


Rink Sleepover

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Always Left Out, But I'm not sorry, I have no idea, M/M, Minor Leo de la Iglesia/Ji Guang-Hong, Minor Michele Crispino/Emil Nekola, No One Invited JJ, Otabek/Yuri's Hair, Pining, Pole Dancing, Reference to Past Assault, Skating, Truth or Dare, poor jj, sleepover shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-04 04:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10268279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Otabek had no idea how he’d been talked into this.Actually, that was wrong.  He knew exactly how he’d been talked into this.  Green eyes and a demanding “Don’t leave me alone with those idiots, Beka.  There just might be a murder, and then we’ll never get to do anything like this ever again.”He had no idea how the Nishigoris had been talked into this.  An all-night party for Viktor and Yuuri and their friends, held at the Ice Castle, celebrating the end of the season and Viktor’s retirement, was quite possibly the worst idea Otabek could imagine.  And yet, after a few reassurances (“No one will do anything stupid on the ice, and if they do, Iama coach and can take care of whatever needs to be taken care of.”), Yuuko had given in and allowed the party.*Note: Underage warning because Yuri is 17.  Nothing explicit is depicted, and they discuss the age issue.





	1. Chapter 1

Yuri should have expected this. Should’ve fucking known that Truth or Dare would come up at some point, probably after the alcohol had made idiots out of everyone. Should have thrown Mila out long before she had this chance. Of fucking course it was Mila who started the game.

Unsurprisingly, Christophe was the first to agree, quickly followed by Phichit, Viktor, and Sara. One by one, everyone else was persuaded or coerced into joining in.

“Okay, Georgi. Truth or dare?” Mila asked. Georgi chose truth. “Is your routine for next season going to be about Anya or Stasia?”

Georgi’s eyebrows nearly shot off his head. “Wow, a softball from Mila Babicheva. Stasia. Seung-gil, truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Why are you even here? You hate this kind of thing.”

Everyone laughed, and Seung-gil just shrugged. “You say no to Phichit when he gets that determined look in his eyes. It’s harder than a quad axel.” Yuri snorted from where he was stretched out, back leaning on Otabek’s bent legs. Saying no to Phichit was damn near impossible, but he’d have thought Seung-gil might be immune. “Yuuri. Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Go try a quad axel.”

“Done.” Yuuri got to his feet and found his skates. Viktor followed him, talking to him quietly, but Yuuri just gave him a kiss on the cheek and got onto the ice. Yuri smirked a little and got his phone out, ready to take video of Yuuri falling on his ass.

Except that Yuuri didn’t fall on his ass. After a couple warmup laps of the rink, he set off skating hard, and he fucking landed a quad axel. He took a bow to the gasps of shock, and then Viktor had him wrapped up in a giant hug. “YOU DID IT!”

“First one. Viktor and I have been working on it, but I was expecting to fall,” Yuuri explained to everyone. “But Viktor and I had a bet, and he just won.”

“What was the bet?” Phichit asked.

“I thought for sure Yurio would land a quad axel before I did. Jumps have never been my strength…” Yuuri blushed. “Now Viktor gets to choose my theme for next season. I’m scared.”

Viktor picked up Yuuri and spun him around with glee. “I’d forgotten that! You should be afraid. This is going to be fun!”

“Save me, Yurio!” Yuri shook his head. He was not getting involved in anything between the world’s grossest lovebirds. “Anyway. Emil! Truth or dare?”

Emil hesitated. “Dare.”

Yuuri’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I dare you to kiss a Crispino.”

Emil sputtered a bit, but he recovered quickly and grinned. “Well, kissing Sara in front of Mickey would be suicide, so…” He plopped into Michele’s lap and kissed him on the lips. “There. One Crispino kissed, as dared. Leo!”

“Truth!”

Emil thought for a moment. “How do you feel about Guang Hong going to college in Chicago?”

Leo shrugged. “It’d be really cool to have him around all the time and not have to worry about time zones just to talk to him. We’ve got some pretty good schools, too, so…” Leo looked around. Phichit, Yuuri, and Emil were staring at him in shock, and Guang Hong was hiding behind Christophe. “What?” When no one answered, Leo looked around Christophe to Guang Hong. “Truth or dare?”

“…Truth,” Guang Hong squeaked.

“Why is everyone staring at me like they’re surprised I’d love to have you in Chicago?”

“It’s not everyone. Only a few people. Anyway they’re staring at you because, um…” Guang Hong stared at his feet for a bit before blurting out in a rush, “I’mmovingtoChicagoinAugusttostartcollegeinSeptember.”

Leo blinked. And blinked again. “What.”

“Phichit and Yuuri helped me with the process since they both went to college in America, and Emil skated with the coach I’m going to be working with and helped me get in contact, and I just got my acceptance letter a couple days ago but I didn’t want to tell you until after Worlds was over and then we all came here and I was going to tell you tonight, really, um, surprise?”

Leo let out a squeal of joy that had Yuri dropping his phone to cover his ears. He glanced back at Otabek. “What the fuck.”

Otabek smiled softly. “Phichit’s been trying to get them to realize and confess their love for each other for two years. It’s been driving him crazy.”

Yuri made a face. “Is everyone in this group going to start hooking up with each other?” He pointed to where Emil was still sitting on Michele’s lap. “We’re skaters. Do we really need the extra drama?”

Otabek flinched a little, which puzzled Yuri. What was that all about? He followed Otabek’s gaze to where Mila and Sara sat together, cheering as Leo kissed Guang Hong to stop his babbling. Now Yuri felt a little sick. “Hey, you two! Knock it off. Guang Hong’s holding up the game!”

Guang Hong blushed and backed away from Leo. “Oh. Sorry. Phichit, truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

Guang Hong grinned maliciously. “You’re skating. You know exactly what you’re skating, so don’t even try. I even have the music.”

“I help set you up to finally get with Leo, and this is the thanks I get?” Phichit teased as he headed for the ice and waited for Guang Hong to start the music. Yuri groaned and leaned back against Otabek’s legs when On Love: Eros started up. Phichit skated Yuuri’s old program, to whistles and catcalls from Chris and Viktor.

Yuuri hugged Phichit when he came off the ice. “Why do you know that routine?”

“Why did you know Stammi Vicino? It’s fun and Ciao Ciao and I were trying to figure out how on Earth Viktor got you to skate like that.” Phichit winked. “We figured it out at the Cup of China.” Yuuri blushed, but he was grinning. “Okay. Christophe?”

“Truth.”

“Whatever happened to Stefan?”

“He got sick of me and moved on to find someone, and I quote, ‘more stable’. By then, I was bored with him anyway, so no big loss. Why?”

Phichit shrugged. “Just curious. Hadn’t seen him since the Finals, seemed weird.”

“Well, there you go.” Christophe looked around, and he settled on Yuri and Otabek. “Oh Yuri! Truth or dare?”

Yuri had planned on saying dare when someone got around to asking him, figuring they’d make him do some sort of difficult or embarrassing skating. But with Christophe… who knew if Chris would care that he was seventeen? “Truth.”

“Hmmm… how’s puberty been treating you? You got tall, and your skating’s suffered from the annoying growth spurts, but how have the hormones been?”

“They’ve been…” Yuri thought for a bit. “I’m pissed off all the time, and things get really awkward sometimes in the spandex. Other than that, fine. I’m great.”

Otabek huffed. “The pissed off all the time isn’t the puberty hormones, Yura.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Hey Sara!”

“Ooo! Truth.”

“Are you mad at Emil for picking Michele over you?”

Sara laughed long and clear. “Considering Emil’s been wanting to do that for three years and Mickey is so focused on ‘protecting’ me from him that he never saw that? Of course not. In fact, I’m very grateful to Yuuri for giving him the push!”

“Huh?” Michele looked at Emil, who gave a goofy grin and a shrug. And was still on Michele’s lap.

“Ugh. Now I’m sorry I asked,” Yuri growled.

Sara shook her head. “I’m not. Let’s see… who hasn’t gone… Otabek! Truth or dare?”

Otabek set his phone down. “Truth.”

“You’re so quiet, I bet you have some really interesting fantasies. Share one?”

Otabek thought for a bit. “I don’t know that it’s particularly interesting, but here’s one. I’m on a date, and after dinner, we go for a ride on my motorcycle. Then we go back to the hotel, or my place, or wherever it is that we are, where we put on a movie and I get to help my date work the tangles out of their hair and just keep playing with it until the movie’s over. Then we go to sleep.”

“Together?” Sara asked.

“Yes.”

“Who’s your date?” Mila asked.

“That wasn’t part of the question, so I have no obligation to answer. Viktor?”

“Truth.”

Otabek hesitated. “Why’d you cut your hair? The real reason, not the press-friendly bullshit you put out there.”

Viktor raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to believe me.”

“Question still stands.”

Viktor nodded. “I didn’t. I went out to celebrate something, I don’t remember what now, but I got rather drunk. And then this guy shows up at the club and gets in my face, starts talking about how he hated me because his girlfriend never shut up about me and my stupid hair. I was eighteen, cocky, and drunk, so when he invited me to go out back, I did. When I woke up, most of my hair was gone. Yakov helped me get rid of enough of the rest that it at least looked decent, and I just never grew it back out. It was a lot easier to tell the press that I’d gotten bored and needed the change, or that now that I was an adult I wanted a less androgynous look, or whatever else I told them, than to admit to getting jumped.”

Yuri had never heard that story, and he tried to imagine how he'd feel if one day his hair was just suddenly gone. It sucked. He actually felt bad for the old man now. Otabek agreed. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

Viktor shrugged and grinned. “Don’t worry about it! That was a long time ago, and it helped with the change in my public image at that point. Turned me from the elf into the playboy. Which is why I’m growing it back out now. I don’t know that I’ll let it get as long as it was. Depends how it looks.”

Yuuri looked up from his phone at that. “I’m in favor of super-long.”

Viktor kissed Yuuri's hair. “Anyway. Michele, truth or dare?”

“Um… truth.”

“Is it just that you’re still in shock, or do you like Emil now that you know it’s not Sara who’s in danger from him?”

“Huh?” Michele, the idiot, looked genuinely confused at the question, causing Yuri to scoff. “In a weird way, Emil’s kind of like my best friend, other than Sara.”

“Yeah, best friend,” Chris repeated. “Because best friends routinely spend the evening sitting in each other’s lap after kissing them.”

“Look at Yuri and Otabek! Yuri’s practically in his lap!” Michele protested.

“I didn’t fucking kiss Beka earlier, asshole. Bit of a difference,” Yuri snarled, fighting down the blush.

Leo looked up. “Wait, what? Yuri and Beka aren’t dating?”

Phichit shrugged. “I thought they’d been dating since Barcelona.”

“What the fuck?” Yuri sat all the way up. “I was fifteen.”

“And totally going heart-eyes for your new ‘friend’,” Viktor said. “Otabek’s a good guy and you weren’t that far from sixteen.”

Otabek cleared his throat. “Aren’t we supposed to be talking about Michele and Emil? Yura and I both answered our questions already.”

“Right,” Sara said, turning to look at her brother. “Mickey?”

Yuri ignored the conversation as he leaned back against Otabek’s legs again. Why did everyone think he and Beka were dating? Even Viktor, apparently? And while Otabek’s redirection had been good and he was grateful, it also didn’t come with any kind of denial. What was with Otabek’s thing with hair, anyway? Yuri reached back and pulled his braid over his shoulder. It was long enough now to where he kept it braided most of the time, but he remembered at Europeans, when he’d had it loose and went for a ride with Otabek, how tangled it had been and how much he’d cursed trying to comb it out. Otabek had laughed at him at the time, but now he was confessing to having fantasies about combing out someone’s hair after going for a bike ride. Otabek had asked Viktor about cutting his hair. Yuri had no intention of cutting his, at least not anytime soon, but it seemed like it would be a big deal to more than just his so-called Angels.

A nudge from Otabek got his attention. “What?”

“Mila picked you for the game,” Otabek whispered.

“Oh.” He looked over to Mila, whose grin was terrifying. “Dare.”

“Dare you to tell us what you were thinking about so hard you didn’t hear me call you kitten.”

Yuri rolled his eyes. “Weak. Okay. I was thinking about cutting my hair. Don’t call me kitten. And…” Yuri looked around, pretending to consider who to call on while he checked Otabek’s reaction. Nothing he could tell without being obvious about trying to see, so he gave up. “Chris.”

“Oooo, I have to see what kind of question you come up with for me. Truth.”

“Explain the stripper pole at the banquet.”

There were a lot of confused faces, while Yuuri went red and hid his face in Viktor’s shoulder, but Christophe and Viktor both burst into laughter. “What makes you think I know?” Chris asked.

“Come on, Chris. Who else would even know how to smuggle a pole in?” Yuri grumbled.

“Touché,” Chris said. “I never leave home without one. I have one with me here, if anyone cares to take a swing. And when Yuuri started his delightful dance-off party, well. I just had to sneak out and get it.”

“Figures you would.” Yuri went back to not paying attention to the game, instead thinking about hair and Otabek and Viktor. He was probably reading too much into this. Otabek had said it was a date, and he didn’t think about Yuri that way. Yuri’s hair had probably just inspired something. Mila’s hair had gotten pretty long, too, and hadn’t Otabek been staring at her earlier?

Another nudge from Otabek. “Sit up, Yura. I have a dare to complete.”

Yuri rolled off of Otabek’s legs to lie on his stomach. “Davai.”

Otabek raised an eyebrow, but he held out a thumbs-up anyway. When Yuri turned around to look, though, his eyes bugged out. Chris hadn’t been lying about having a pole with him, and he and Viktor were getting it set up. Otabek handed Yuri his clothes. “Hold these for me?”

“Uh… yeah, sure.” Yuri took the clothes, trying not to stare too much. Now he wished he’d been paying attention. He wanted to know who to thank for the sight of Otabek Altin pole dancing.

Otabek was surprisingly good. He wasn’t as polished as Chris had been at the banquet, but he had a flair that no one else could imitate. After a few minutes, he slid back to the ground and turned to Sara. “Enough?”

“Yeah. Wow.” Sara’s cheeks were flushed and she couldn’t quite look Otabek in the eyes.

“Good. Phichit?”

Phichit chose dare as well, and Yuri rolled his eyes as Otabek sent him to the pole. He could see how the rest of the night was going to go. Otabek came back over, still breathing a little hard. Yuri handed him his shirt. “You can pole dance?”

“Unfortunately. My coach had a fit of insanity last summer and thought I should try to add sex appeal to my performances. Pole dancing is what he came up with for how to bring it out.”

“Worked for Katsudon,” Yuri offered, trying not to imagine Otabek doing a sexed-up routine.

Otabek shook his head. “I was more like Seung-gil.”

“Oh god, now I’m picturing you in that parrot costume, and it is awful.” Yuri laughed at the mental image. “I don’t think anyone could pull that off. Not even Chris.”

“I don’t know. I think Chris is quite the expert in pulling things off,” Otabek said, completely stonefaced.

Yuri started laughing harder.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a lot of groaning when the alarm went off. Otabek wasn’t exactly eager to get up, but they needed to clean up and clear out so that Yuuko and her family could open the rink. His hangover wasn’t too bad, thankfully, and there were a few others who hadn’t gotten too drunk last night. It didn’t take them long to gather up their trash, collect their belongings, and make sure that the most hung over of the group – Chris, Viktor, Michele, and Phichit – had escorts back to Yu-Topia.

Yuri stayed behind to deal with Yuuko, since Yuuri had to take charge of Viktor. Otabek decided to wait with him. Yuri noticed and shook his head. “Go get some sleep, Beka. I’ll be fine. Yuuko’s one of the few people who actually like me.”

Otabek shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“It may be an hour.”

“That’s okay. I’ve skated competitions on less sleep than I got last night.” He had, too. He’d even won medals on low sleep. “How late did you stay up?”

“Not long after you went to sleep. Had some thinking to do.”

“Still thinking about cutting your hair?”

“Huh?” Yuri looked confused, but then it dawned on him. “Oh! Right. I’m not actually considering cutting my hair. It’s just that you asked Viktor about his, and it got me thinking about how people would react if I suddenly showed up with short hair.”

“Oh.” Otabek felt very relieved at that. If Yuri wanted to cut his hair, Otabek would support him and offer whatever opinions or advice he asked for, but he loved Yuri’s hair. He’d been afraid Yuri had figured out that the fantasy he’d shared was about him and wanted to cut off his hair to make sure Otabek knew it wasn’t going to happen.

“Mostly what I came up with is yet more Yuri is The Second Coming of Viktor Nikiforov. If I had been thinking about cutting it, that right there is a good reason not to. I fucking hate being compared to him all the time.” Yuri reached into his bag, coming out with his comb and some hair ties. “Speaking of my hair, though. I’ve slept at rinks before, and it always messes it up. Even if I’ve got it braided. If you’re going to insist on staying here with me, may as well make yourself useful and help me deal with it.” He held the comb out to Otabek.

Otabek took the comb. “You wouldn’t rather do it yourself?”

“Nah. I don’t think it’s motorcycle bad, but it might be bad enough that I’d start cursing, and strange as it may sound I try to watch my language around Yuuko. Especially around her girls.” Yuri found a seat on a bench.

Otabek sat behind him, unbraiding Yuri’s hair. It didn’t seem too bad to him, but he wasn’t going to say anything. Maybe it made him a weak person, but this might be his only chance to do this, so he wasn’t going to give it up. “What do you want me to do with your hair?”

“Whatever. If I hate it I can always take it out later.”

Otabek started by combing it out thoroughly, taking as long as he could justify. Yuri held surprisingly still, humming the music from his free skate under his breath while Otabek worked. Otabek studied the hair, trying to decide what to do with it. He divided the hair into two parts that he French braided from the temple to the back of Yuri’s head. Where the two braids came together, he joined them into one braid going down Yuri’s back. Once it was tied off, he tapped Yuri’s shoulder. “I’m done. Go look.”

Yuri headed for the changing room, leaving Otabek nervously awaiting judgment. When Yuri came back, he was smiling. “I have to say, I’m a little disappointed.”

Uh-oh. “I’m sorry. You can…”

“No, Beka, wait. I was kind of hoping I’d hate it so that I had an excuse to have you keep going.” Yuri handed Otabek his phone. “Here, take some good pictures of this, I may want to use this for skating next season. I love it.”

Otabek took the phone, snapping pictures while trying to process Yuri’s explanation of his disappointment. “I don’t mind doing your hair anytime you want me to. You’re just so protective of it…”

“You would be too if you had to put up with my idiot fans,” Yuri grumbled. “I never knew my dad, but I’ve seen pictures, and even if I hadn’t I’d know that I mostly take after him. The golden hair is the only thing I got from my mother. Not that Mama was the greatest parent, but at least she stuck around to parent before I was shipped off to Yakov.”

“Your fans do have their crazy contingent. For which I will always be grateful, even as they annoy me to death.”

Yuri gave him a very confused glare. “Grateful?”

“They forced me to stop worrying about screwing up my chance and actually talk to you.”

Yuri grinned. “Yeah, okay. Maybe the crazy Angels have done _one_ good thing. Doesn’t make up for all the crap they put us through.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Otabek reached into his bag for his phone. “I’ve got some emails you need to see.”

“Huh?” Yuri leaned over to look at the phone.

Otabek found the most worrying one. “I got this a few hours after the Worlds medal ceremony.” Otabek had hoped he’d be on the podium with Yuri, but Viktor and Yuuri weren’t bad to share a podium with. Viktor had gone out with one last gold, Otabek took silver, and Yuuri bronze. Yuri had finished fifth after struggling with some jumps thanks to having grown three centimeters between Europeans and Worlds. Yuri had taken the loss well, being right there to hug Otabek after the medal ceremony.

The email was a death threat. The Angel who sent it promised to kill Otabek for daring to think that Yuri was his and he had any right to touch him. Yuri shook his head. “Her head would explode if she’d seen you braiding my hair. You’ve showed your coach, right?”

“Of course. There’s a few more, along those general lines. I don’t know how they got my email address.”

Yuri groaned. “I hadn’t even noticed. This is your personal address, isn’t it? I’ll put out a statement telling them to stop harassing you. Again.”

“Don’t bother, it never helps.”

Yuri handed Otabek back his phone. “Forward those emails to me. If they’re registered Angels, the officers should be able to figure out who they are and deal with them. Any of these that sound like credible threats we can get law enforcement on.”

“They’re teenage girls. I can’t imagine any of them could actually hurt me.”

“Still worth checking out.” Yuri pulled out his phone. “Not all the Angels are teenage girls, you know.”

“Oh, I know.” Otabek’s phone chimed, and he opened the new email. He laughed. “Wow. Haven’t seen one of these for a while.”

“What?” Yuri looked over.

“Not all of the Angels are Russian, either. This one’s threatening to report me to the police as a pedophile because you’re only seventeen.”

“What?” Yuri stole the phone and forwarded the email to himself. “This one I’m responding to personally. What the fuck.”

Otabek reclaimed his phone. “I got a lot of them after Barcelona. I even got to talk to some cops right before Four Continents that year.”

“You never told me about that.”

Otabek shrugged. “I didn't see the need. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. There’s no age of consent for being friends. Obviously it didn't throw me off, I managed to beat JJ out for silver.”

“You’re still not doing anything wrong.”

“Which is why I’m laughing at this one instead of telling my coach. Wouldn’t have told you if you weren’t right here to see it.”

“Beka, if my fans are causing trouble for you, I want to know about it. Even if it’s harmless. That is bullshit and you shouldn’t have to put up with it.”

“I am fine, Yura. Don’t worry about me. I mean it.” Otabek put an arm around Yuri. “Sure it’s annoying, but this isn’t your fault.”

“No, it’s my idiot fans. At least that’s one told off.” Yuri dropped his phone into a pocket and leaned into Otabek. “They annoy me, but going after you is crossing a line. Especially with fucking bullshit about you. Like Viktor said last night, you’re a good guy. You’d never take advantage of someone like that.”

“You sounded surprised to hear that some of them thought we were dating. You didn’t know that?”

Yuri pulled away and stared up at him. “No? You did and you didn’t set them straight?”

“Half our fanclubs think we’re dating. Always seemed to me like putting out a denial would just fan the rumors.” If he were to be honest, Otabek kind of liked the rumors. “I probably should have said something to Leo, we're friends and he'd have listened to me. I didn't know Viktor thought that or I would have said something to him.”

Yuri shook his head. “I knew some of our fans were shipping us, but I didn’t realize people who actually knew us believed it.”

“Leo, Guang Hong, and Phichit are the only ones I know of. Well, Chris, but I am perfectly happy letting him believe it because that way he’s not hitting on either of us. Much.”

“What if I want Chris to hit on me?”

Otabek did his best to swallow the jealousy. He’d expected to hear something about Yuri developing a crush on someone at some point, but Chris was never a possibility he’d considered. “Then I’ll tell him the truth. Really? Chris?”

“Ew. No. So not my type. Only person I can think of who’d be worse is fucking JJ.” Yuri leaned back on Otabek’s shoulder. “Well. Viktor or Katsudon, but in that case only because it would mean they broke up, and as bad as they are together can you imagine what they’d be like after a breakup? Viktor would be worse than Georgi.”

“Not to mention Viktor’s, like, twelve years older than you?” Otabek teased.

“Not my fault if I like older guys. But, yeah, not that old. Same goes for Chris.”

Before Otabek had a chance to respond, Yuuko arrived. Yuri ran to hug her and return the keys. After Yuuko’s inspection of the rink, she smiled. “You guys did a good job. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, we did, although I hope your girls didn’t sneak in,” Yuri said. “Chris has a portable stripper pole.”

Yuuko giggled. “Did you get Yuuri on it?”

Otabek nodded. “Viktor has videos of everyone who went on. I’m sure he’ll send them to you.”

“Thanks again. Oh, Yurio? I love your hair like that!”

Yuri blushed a little as he reached up to touch it. “Thanks. Beka did it for me this morning.” He reached out and grabbed Otabek’s hand to drag him out. “Come on, I need a nap.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor wants to see Yuri happy. If that means he has to rile him up, that's okay with him.
> 
> Sometimes, you really should poke the bear.

Unsurprisingly, Yuri was already awake and long gone by the time Otabek woke up. There was a note – “Went to Minako’s studio with Katsudon, you’re welcome to join but I know ballet’s really not your thing.” Otabek considered it briefly, and decided that he’d pass. If it had just been Yuri, he might have gone, but he didn’t want to intrude on Yuri’s time with Yuuri. As much as Yuri tried to deny it, Yuuri and Viktor were practically his family.

Viktor looked up as Otabek stepped into the main room, and waved him over. “Good morning! How are you feeling?”

“I feel like I should be asking you that. You’re the one who needed help getting back.” Otabek took a seat as Viktor poured him some tea.

“Ahhh…” Viktor smiled sheepishly. “That may have been exaggerated. Otherwise Yuuri would have insisted on staying to make sure everything was good with Yuuko, even though we’d decided that Yuri would take care of that because he wasn’t going to be drinking.”

That honestly didn’t surprise Otabek. “How did you get him to agree to that?”

“He informed us, actually. Said he didn’t want to get drunk around everyone because he was there at the Sochi banquet and saw just how stupid it makes people.” Viktor smirked and leaned forward, adding in a whisper, “I think he was afraid that if he got drunk, he might actually admit to liking me or Yuuri.”

“Sounds about right.”

“You know, if he cuts his hair, that it’s nobody’s business but his.”

Otabek paused with the teacup halfway to his lips. “Huh?”

“Well, you asked about mine, and I saw your reaction to him talking about cutting it. And then I saw his hair when he headed out to Minako’s with my Yuuri and he told me you’d done it.”

“I asked about yours because I’d been curious since I was eight years old, before I’d even met Yuri. I thought you’d pick dare and I could make you skate Agape, and that was the first question that popped into my head when you chose truth. Which… probably has something to do with the fact that I’d just been thinking about Yuri’s hair, I guess, but that’s not the point. Yura can do whatever he wants with his hair. If he tells me he wants to shave his head, I’ll help him find a tiger-stripe hat to keep his head warm.”

“Good. You’re good for him, Otabek.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re a good match for him. There aren’t many people who could handle him being the way he is, but he’s different with you.”

“I’m not trying to do that. I’m perfectly happy for him to just be himself. I don’t know why he acts differently with me.”

“Don’t you?” Viktor smirked at him. “I’ve got a guess. I think he wants to keep you.”

“And he will. I’m not going anywhere. He’s met my friends in Kazakhstan, he has to know I can handle him.”

Viktor shook his head, smiling at something Otabek didn’t understand. “Things friends can get away with aren’t necessarily what lovers can. Chris is my best friend, but if we’d ever tried to be lovers, one of us would have killed the other.”

“Yura and I are friends. He’s never shown any interest in dating anyone that I know of.”

Viktor raised an eyebrow. “He wouldn’t, if he wants you.”

“No, I don’t suppose he would. Of course, he wouldn’t if he just isn’t interested in dating. It’s hard, with the time… and I don’t have to tell you how hard it is.”

“Well, you could always take a year off to be his coach. Worked for me.” Viktor winked.

Otabek was spared having to respond to that when he heard a shout. “Oi! Old Man! What the fuck?”

Viktor just grinned at Yuri. “Ah, hello Yurio! How was dance practice?”

“Forget dance, why are you being an ass and trying to mess up the one good friendship I have outside of my rink? I cannot believe you.” Yuri got in Viktor's face, practically shaking in rage.

“Yura.” Otabek reached out and pulled Yuri away from Viktor. “Yura, calm down. He means well, and I’m not going to let it mess up our friendship.”

“Let go of me, Beka.” Yuri glared at Otabek, who let go and took a step back. “Viktor. I don’t care if you mean well. Stay the fuck out of my business.”

Viktor shrugged. “I can’t want you to be happy? Pretty sure you’re the only one who isn’t aware that Otabek is in love with you.”

“VIKTOR!” Yuri kicked the older skater in the shoulder. “KATSUDON! Get in here and control your stupid husband’s mouth!”

“I’ve been trying for two years, what makes you think I can?” Yuuri asked as he came inside.

“Just kiss him or something. At least then he won’t be able to talk!”

Yuuri plopped in Viktor’s lap. “Are you riling up the Ice Tiger, Viktor?”

“I’m trying to help him out! Not my fault he’s just as clueless as you were!”

Yuri lunged at Viktor, but Otabek caught him. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.” He pulled Yuri along with him as he headed for the door. Yuri finally stopped struggling when the door closed behind them and he couldn’t see Viktor anymore.

“I am going to kill him one of these days, Beka.”

“Please don’t. I hate visiting my friends in jail, especially in Russian jails. The guards look at me like they think I belong on the other side of the bars.”

“Why?”

Otabek smiled. “I believe the usual term is ‘Kazakh thug’.”

“That’s bull. You’re not a thug, you’re the Hero of Kazakhstan!”

“Only to people who pay attention to figure skating. You and Viktor, they know you in Russia, but they probably couldn’t name two foreign skaters. Only reason I think they might be able to name one is because Viktor married one.” Otabek leaned up against a wall. “To people who don’t recognize me as a skater, I’m just a Kazakh who doesn’t have a real job but does have a motorcycle and a couple friends with records.” He paused. “Somehow I don’t think my hobby of kidnapping Russian fairies would count as a point in my favor.”

“Fairies? You’re kidnapping other people? And here I thought I was special to you.” Yuri’s eyes got huge and he turned the color of borscht. “I mean. I just. You’d think I’d have heard something.”

“You’re the only one. You are special to me. Have you ever seen anyone else on the back of my bike?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen when I’m not looking." Yuri's blush was fading, but he still didn't look comfortable. "Which is fine. It’s your bike, you can take whoever you want for rides on it.”

“And you can do whatever you want with your hair.”

“Huh? I told you, I’m not planning on cutting it.”

“And that makes me very happy to hear, because I love your hair the way it is.”

“I’m so confused right now. I blame Viktor.” Yuri kicked at a stone. “Viktor, my crazy fans… I’m sorry that being friends with me means getting dragged through so much batshit. I’m not worth it.”

“Yes you are.” Otabek started to reach out, but he’d done too good a job with Yuri’s hair and couldn’t use pushing his hair back as an excuse to touch him. “Viktor wasn’t bothering me at all. How much did you hear?”

“I came in when you were talking about how hard something was. And then he made that crack about quitting to coach me, and I lost my temper.”

He knew he’d regret it, but sometimes, Otabek’s mouth engaged just a little faster than his brain. “Hey, at least if I did, you’d be the second coming of Yuuri Katsuki instead of Viktor Nikiforov for once?”

“What.”

“It’s actually kind of fair, too. I mean, you’re the one who left an indelible impression on me while you danced and then promptly forgot we’d even met.”

Yuri burst into laughter. “Beka, you’re ridiculous. I am not the second coming of _either_ of those two assholes. I’m just me.”

“Which really is just as well. I don’t think the world could handle two of either of them. I’d rather not imagine the world without you, either.”

“Beka?”

Otabek shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at his boots for a moment, trying to figure out what to say, and how to say it. “Yura, you’re my best friend. You have been since Barcelona. Whatever else happens, I don’t want to lose that.”

“Should I be scared here?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I’m not scared, exactly, but I am rather nervous. Mostly what I am is confused.”

“Yeah, that makes two of us. I kind of… I thought I’d figured some stuff out last night and now everything’s all weird again.”

“Sorry.”

“No, this… it’s not your fault. That’s not what I meant at all.”

“I didn’t think it was.” Otabek looked up at Yuri. “I can deal with just about anything else, but this confusion is driving me crazy. So I’m just gonna get this out there and we can figure out how to handle it once it is. Yura, I love you. I’m happy as your best friend, and if that’s what you want me to be, that’s fine.”

“And if I want something else?”

“Tell me what you want and I’ll see if I can make it happen.”

Yuri came to stand in front of him, forcing Otabek to meet his eyes. For a long moment, he just stood there, staring. Then he took a step back and dropped his gaze. “I want you to be my boyfriend. You don’t have to. I’m not stupid. I just can’t take this confusion anymore, either.”

Otabek closed his eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths to let everything really sink in. “I think I can make that happen. It’s not just that simple, though, and you know it.”

“Oh, for… seventeen is old enough in both Russia and Kazakhstan, Baka.”

“Ah, yes. Surefire way to win someone’s heart, call them a moron.” Yuri’s eyes widened, and Otabek hastened to add, “I’m joking. I know. And if we spent all our time in Kazakhstan and Russia, I wouldn’t be worried at all. We don’t. And, well… I hope you can forgive me for being a little hesitant, given that…”

Yuri snorted. “Given that my idiot fans have already gotten you talked to by the cops?”

“Exactly. I know your grandfather’s already not my biggest fan, because of the motorcycle and my friends. Yakov likes me, but I don’t know if that would be enough.”

Yuri stepped back forward, reaching out to put a hand on Otabek’s shoulder. “Grandpa doesn’t like the motorcycle, but he loves you. Last time I got home to visit him, we had the talk. He says I’m old enough to make my own decisions, but that he approves of you. You get me in trouble, yes, but you’re always there to get me out. Better than me getting in trouble all on my own and not having someone there I can trust to have my back. And, well. It’s not like I’m looking to have sex with you right away.”

“You’re not?”

“Nope. I’m not saying wait for marriage or anything ridiculous like that, but I wanna take this slow. Make sure we really know what we’re doing before we get in over our heads. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I didn’t exactly grow up with good role models of healthy, happy relationships. If you want to wait until I’m eighteen before we sleep together, it’s a little longer than I was thinking, but it’s reasonable. Not like we won’t be busy with competition season.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Not like I have much idea what I’m doing either, but at least I had my parents.”

Yuri took another step forward, letting his arms slide around Otabek’s neck as he pressed into Otabek’s chest. Otabek’s arms came up to hold him close. “By the way, you can mess with my hair whenever as long as you don’t run afoul of Lilia,” Yuri said into Otabek’s shoulder, causing Otabek to laugh.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments set my heart on fire!


End file.
